Free Custom «Constitution, Declaration and Address of the American Anti-slavery Society» Essay Paper

Introduction

Slavery was introduced in America at around 1619. This led to it lasting for up to 168 years until the America’s constitution was drafted in 1787. Slavery was the day-to-day life in both North and South America as they majorly relied on slaves, to carry out tasks on their farms and; thus, economic gain. The harsh conditions, mistreatment, and poor lifestyle that the slaves faced led to the formation of the American Anti Slavery Society formed by William Garrison in 1833. The main objective of William Garrison was to abolish slavery as they considered it inhumane.

Why the states and not the Federal government should decide the issue of slaves

After the formation of the anti slavery society, in 1833, Garrison and other supporters set out to sweep slavery entirely out of America. As at 1838, just five years after the formation of the society, they already were having almost 250,000 supporters. According to Ericson (2000), the society also came up with a weekly magazine dubbed ‘National Anti-Slavery Standard’ that addressed the need to abolish slavery. Despite this, there was a lack of understanding between the states and the Federal government. Each side wanted to decide the fate of the slaves in America. It is claimed that even at some point the President of the Federal government threatened to use the army against the Southern states. It was considered the states would be more reliable in deciding the issues of slavery because each state had its own laws that governed the states, unlike the Federal government. In addition, each state had its own slaves and thus the abolishment process would have been easier.

 

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Why they insisted on banning slavery without the use of force

William Garrison, the founder of the anti slavery society was now set to abolish slavery.  Ericson (2000) indicates that apart from coming up with a weekly magazine, he also organized several meetings. At some of the meetings, they were attacked and their equipments vandalized. During demonstrations against slavery, the slaves too were attacked and killed. Garrison did not see why they had to use force to abolish slavery. He and other supporters of anti slavery believed in Christianity; thus, goodwill. The other fathers of anti slavery viewed this as evil deeds against human beings who were created in God’s image. Unlike the states, the Federal government had threatened to use the army to stop the slavery in the Southern states, which were the most reluctant to abolish slavery. The Southern states feared that end of slavery would have led to fall of their economy as they depended fully on slaves power. The anti slave society believed in peace, and that was the reason of not applying force to end slavery.

How this appealed to their readers

Ericson (2000) asserts that formation of the anti slavery society by Garrison was determined to end slavery. This was made clearer by the introduction of the weekly newspaper dubbed ‘National Anti-Slavery Standard’.  Despite all this, the society was not welcomed warmly. They faced harsh rebellion during their meetings when trying to address the issue of slavery. However, the general response can be termed as ‘mixed reaction’. Notably, it is because of the positive response from the other masters who had held the African American as slaves.

How they attempted to appeal to readers through their languages.

In bid to end slavery, force would never have worked. Garrison and the other founders decided to pass a message of goodwill towards every human being without judging ones color or race. Their articles talked about the abolishment of slavery as they termed that inhuman against fellow human beings. According to Ericson (2000), they described how it was not fair to buy and sell human beings as if they were cattle’s. In addition to that, the anti slavery society address the people to figure out if it was their fore fathers who were being enslaved. This step changed the whole issue of slavery as most readers started taking responsibility towards the abolishment of slavery.

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In conclusion, slavery was introduced in America in 1619 when the first Africans arrived in Virginia. This whole issue did not impress some Whites, and this led to the formation of the anti slavery society in 1833 by William Garrison. Garrison introduced a weekly magazine that they used as a tool, to abolish slavery.